


A Load of Crop

by Tsaiko



Series: Monsters Under the Bed [2]
Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Underfell (Undertale), Canonical Character Death, Food, Food Issues, Gen, Grief/Mourning, Hiding Food, Siblings, Vegetables
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-16
Updated: 2019-10-16
Packaged: 2020-12-20 17:34:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,923
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21060524
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tsaiko/pseuds/Tsaiko
Summary: It is recommended you read this side story after Chapter 12, as it contains spoilers for the main story line of Monsters of Monsters.





	A Load of Crop

**Author's Note:**

> It is recommended you read this side story after Chapter 12, as it contains spoilers for the main story line of Monsters of Monsters.

**A Load of Crop**

Sans came home to find Papyrus in the kitchen. That wasn't abnormal. University classes kept him busy most days, and Papyrus had taken over his duties in the small, shitty kitchen in the small, shitty apartment they had in Hotland near campus. What was abnormal was the small stack of vegetables sitting on the counter.

"What the fuck?" Sans asked. 

"It's zucchini," Papyrus replied.

"I know what the fuck it is. What's it doin' here? I ain't eatin' vegetables." 

Papyrus turned on him, slamming the spatula on the counter in the process. "It's food. I didn't fish it from the DUMP just to have you not eat it." Papyrus's voice cracked mid-sentence, the word dump coming out louder than the rest. Puberty was not being kind to his younger brother.

"I don't want you at the dump by yourself." This was an old argument between them. Sans could yell at Papyrus all he wanted, but Papyrus was as stubborn as he was. And Sans couldn't keep an eye on him all the time like when they were younger. He had classes and teaching duties, the latter of which provided the tiny stipend that they lived off of.

"I am not a CHILD and we have to eat."

Both of which were true. It didn't mean Sans had to like it. "You're barely outta stripes."

"I have been out of stripes for two years," Papyrus replied. "Stop trying to CODDLE me. Now sit down. I'm still making dinner."

"It better not taste green," Sans grumbled. He could get some homework done while Papyrus cooked. Normally, Sans was fine with not doing anything, but he needed to keep his grades up in order to keep his stipend. Even though Sans loved math, doing all the problems sucked, but being back out on the streets sucked more.

About a half an hour later, Papyrus turned away from the stove again. "Food is done. Get the plates down."

Sans blinked up from the sea of numbers in his head and on the sheet of paper. Welp. His train of thought was already broken. Still, couldn't let Papyrus get too uppity. He let his eyes land on the spiked collar around his brother's neck. "Who is the one in the collar now?"

"Fuck you. I made dinner. I ain't... I am NOT your maid."

"Yeah, yeah." Sans let it go. He and Papyrus always tried to tackle tasks together, and his brother had made dinner. The plates in the cupboards were chipped and mismatched, as were the cups. He filled them with water from a large, plastic bottle they kept in the corner. Neither of them trusted the rust colored water that came out of the pipes.

Papyrus took the plates from Sans, put the food on it, and handed it back. Sans had thought it was spaghetti, which was cheap, filling, and relatively easy to get a hold of. It was. Sort of. It was just that the noodles were... green. Green noodles. It was obvious that they were zucchini. There was also bread with a bit of butter and ground up hamburger in tomato sauce. "I thought I said it better not taste green."

"You haven't even TASTED it yet. How do you know they taste green?" Papyrus snapped as he started

"Do I look like a fuckin' idiot? The noodle are green. 'course they taste green," Sans stated. Papyrus narrowed his eyes. 

"You need to eat more vegetables anyway," Papyrus said, bringing his own plate the table. The chair he sat in creaked under his weight.

"I don't need to eat green shit," Sans replied. Even as he kept complaining, Sans started eating the hamburger and bread. He avoided the noodles. He'd try to choke those down last. "And you can't make me."

"Is that a challenge?" The way Papyrus said that, smooth and dangerous, sent a chill down Sans's spine. Gone was the gawky, awkward teenager. In this was place the dangerous bastard his brother would be in a few years. Sans froze. "Because I can ALWAYS hide them."

Just like that, Papyrus was back to being... Papyrus. Sans let out a laugh at the crack in his brother's voice. He was the only one who heard how shaky it was. Probably.

"You can try, kid."

"I'm not a KID." Papyrus narrowed his eyes. "Challenge accepted."

*******

"What is in my eggs?"

"It's HERBS," Papyrus replied. His voice didn't crack as much now. Just when he was nervous.

"Bull. Shit. Stop ruinin' good eggs with your fuckin' vegetables."

"Eat your breakfast."

*******

"Why are the pancakes orange?"

"I am trying a new recipe," Papyrus said. His voice was smooth. Papyrus had gotten better at lying, a fact that both made Sans proud and made him feel a bit cold inside. Lying was a survival skill and Papyrus had been terrible at it as a child, despite Sans's attempts to teach him the trick of it. Sans had picked up the skill of lying with incredible ease.

Even though he'd gotten better at it, Sans could see the lie still, in the way his brother held himself. It was definitely a tell. Probably one that no one else could see, but still.

"A new recipe? Whats'it got innit?"

"Your not usually so interested in cooking," Papyrus said, dryly. His voice had evened out over the year. "Why the interest?"

"And your stallin'. What's in it?"

A sigh. "Pumpkin."

Pumpkins weren't bad, if you could find cans of pumpkin as opposed to the huge tasteless, stringy spheres of nastiness that got dumped in the Underground en masse every year right after Halloween. What a waste. Only humans would grow food you couldn't actually eat. He still hadn't figured out how humans made pumpkins in the can taste so much better than actual pumpkins. Sans barely thought of them as a vegetable. They weren't green. Still, he couldn't let Papyrus trying to sneak vegetables in without consequences.

"I'll eat them this time. Try it again, and I'm dumping this shit in trash where it belongs."

"Fuck off."

*******

"What did you do to the mashed potatoes?"

"Nothing. The milk was close to expiring. It was all they had at the shop in town," Papyrus replied. There was no tension. No flinch. No tell at all. 

Sans watched Papyrus for a long moment.

"What did you put in it?"

"Nothing."

"Pap." His voice held the faintest trace of warning. Papyrus still wore his collar, but it wouldn't be long now before his brother would take it off. He probably should have already. There was no reason for him to wear it except sentiment. And sentiment was dangerous in the Underground.

But like Hell Sans was going to push the issue. He was already grateful that his brother hadn't left him to fend for himself when he'd dragged them to the ass end of the Underground after his advisor had scienced himself out of existence. Sans just hoped his own inability to give his brother up didn't get Papyrus killed.

"Cauliflower."

"Dammit, Papyrus."

*******

"In mY MAc aNd CheeSe? WhaT the FuCk PaPyrUs?"

"JUST EAT WHAT I MAKE OR MAKE YOUR OWN FOOD!"

*******

It was dinner time. Papyrus was in the kitchen and he was at the table, which wasn’t that different from any other day. Only now, Sans was in the collar. It sat heavy against his cervical vertebrae. Sans had only been in it a little while, and he still wasn't use to the sensation.

"Stop messing with it," Boss ordered. There was something baking in the oven and two pots going on the stove. One of the privileges of rank: a half-way decent kitchen. There was a loaf of some unidentifiable bread cooling on the counter. It smelled good.

"Fuck off," Sans replied without heat. He pulled at the leather before letting it settle back down. It was a comfortable collar. The Boss had chosen well. Still felt weird to be the one wearing it.

"Here. Occupy yourself with this and STOP FIDGETING."

Which was as close to an order as Boss got when they were alone and in the house. Sans dropped his hand to the table. Half of him wanted to just lay his head down on it and nap, but he knew Papyrus would have something to say about that. His brother sat a plate down in front of him. It was a slice of bread. It smelled like chocolate. It smelled _delicious._

Papyrus made a noise of disgust when Sans grabbed the bread with his hands and started eating. "You could at least pretend to be civilized and use silverware."

"It's bread," Sans replied. The bread tasted moist and chocolately, with little bits of nuts in it. "You don't eat bread with silverware." It was gone in less than a minute, bit still sticking to the ends of his finger bones. "You got any more?"

"I'm not giving you another slice before dinner," Papyrus replied. He glanced up and froze. The Boss was smiling. Sans was immediately suspicious.

"What?" Sans asked. The smile at the corner of Boss's mouth was gone, but it was too late. He knew something was up. "What was that smile for?"

"I don't know what you mean," Papyrus replied, but Sans could hear the satisfaction in his voice. But why? Sans narrowed his eyes and considered

"Fuckin' hell. Did you put something in the bread?"

"And you didn't notice." Papyrus's voice was all smug satisfaction. "Not until my reactions gave it away. I had you fooled."

"Are you still stuck on that stupid getting me to eat vegetables shit?"

"You're only mad because I won."

Yeah, he had. 

His brother was the best.

*******

There was no food at their house. Or, if there was food, Sans couldn't find it. Granted he hadn't looked that hard. Maybe someone had taken it all. If there was still someone alive in Snowdin to take it. Sans couldn't stay in the house without the memories of his brother rising up to choke him.

He was at the Dump. Normally, Sans tried to avoid the Dump if he could. Too many monsters looking for easy XP or a chance to make a name for themselves. It was eerily still and quiet today. No one else around.

Sans rounded a pile of garbage and froze. Zucchini. So many zucchini. It was more food that Sans had seen in his entire life. His throat felt tight and his knees gave way. Some of the zucchini were white with mold, but most of them were just fine. He could taste the green, watery slightly bitterness of them like he'd just taken a bite of Boss's terrible noodles. Even when his fingers touched one of them – they _smelled_ just like he remembered – Sans couldn't bring himself to eat one. 

There he was, kneeling in the garbage, staring at some fucking vegetables. He was pathetic. Slowly, Sans got to his feet and adjusted the ragged red scarf around his neck.

It was time to meet the human at the Judgement Hall.

*******

Sitting in the hallway was a plate. A plate full of green noodles. Red felt something rise up in his throat, harsh and painful. He wasn't crying. It had been years since he cried. If it took some effort on his part to force the noodles past the lump in his throat, that was no one's business but his own.

He ate every half-cooked zucchini noodle on the plate. 

The Boss would have been so proud.

**Author's Note:**

> You didn't really need those good feelings, did you?
> 
> Things I liked about writing this side story:  
\- The idea that UF!Papyrus's voice cracks. I have a feeling that, much like my younger cousins, the idea of a "indoor voice" was a foreign concept to him for much of his childhood.  
\- That the sequence of scenes showing their changing circumstances worked so well.  
\- I got to add my feeling about normal pumpkins. Why are they so inedible? So much wasted veggie...  
\- That I stuck to my word count requirement (under 2,000 words). I had 1930. :D
> 
> Things that disturbed me about writing this side story:  
\- Researching on how to add vegetables to various recipes. Seriously, the number of people who think it's okay to hide veggies in people's food while lying about it is terrifying. It was trendy to do this a few years ago with kids ago which is just... Seriously, do not do this.


End file.
